Automatic mail dispatch and pickup



March 19, 1940. VAN 2,194,157

AUTOMATIC MAIL DISPATCH AND PICKUP Filed June 27, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W I r John Uano INVENTOR ATTO RN EYS March 19, 1940. VANQ AUTOMATIC MAIL DISPATCH AND PICKUP Filed June 27, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORN EYS Patented Mar. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE AUTOMATIC MAIL DISPATCH AND PICKUP John Vano, Chicago, Ill.

Application June 27, 1938, Serial No. 216,138

1 Claim.

for automatically discharging one or more mail bags while the train is in motion, and in which I the discharge means is so constructed as to constit'ute an effective pickup for one or a large number of mail bags from a catcher arm located along the railroad.

A further object is to provide a device of the type described which is so designed as to be applicable to cars of standard construction. With these and other objects in view, this invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a fragmentary elevational view of a mail car showing my invention applied there- Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a similar view illustrating the pickup in its operating position;

Figure 4 is an inside elevational view of a portion of the invention;

Figure 5 is a side view of the structure of Fig ure 4 illustrating the pickup in its operating position;

Figure 6 is a view taken'from the position indicated by line 66 of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is an enlarged view'taken from the position indicated by the line 1-7 of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a sectional View along the line 8-8 of Figure '7; and v Figure 9 is a cross sectional view of a portion of a mail car showing the part of the operating mechanism. a

In the embodiment selected to illustrate my invention I make use of the usual mail car l provided with wheels l l which run on the usual rails it. In Figures 1 and 3, I indicate theusual catcher arm structure at l3, which supports a plurality of mail bags [4 to be delivered to the mail car It under motion. Figure 3- illustrates the catcher at l positioned for picking up the mail bags M. Normally the catcher l5 lies inside the mail car in a vertical position, as illustrated in Figure 2. Two catchers l5 are illustrated. While two units are illustrated, the invention operates equally well with a single unit. Since both units are identical in construction, the description of one will apply to both.

In Figures 4, 5, and 6, I illustrate the specific 5-" construction'of the catcher l5 which also constitutes a mail bag dispatch or discharging unit for dropping mail bags from the car while in motion. In Figure 5 the mail car ill includes an opening ill constituting a door for the catcher 10- W. The catcher is hinged at ll to the wall strucure Id of the mail car. Because of the hard usage to which the catcher is subjected,,I prefer to extend the hinge ll the full width of the wall id of the catcher. Catcher or receptacle 15 includes a rear wall and an inner wall 2! which curves inwardly, as at 22. Wall i9 is open at 23 to constitute a discharge opening located inside the mail car for delivering picked-up mail bags to the car.

The end 25 of the catcher i5 is open, which is also true of the side 25, which is the side ap'- preaching the mail bags M on the catcher arm structure l3. Side 25 of the catcher l5 includes a short wall 23 at the inner end of the catcher.

Within the catcher l5 I secure a diagonal wall, or partition 27, which constitutes a deflecting element for the mail bags being picked up. Partition 2! constitutes a bottom or support for the mail bags 28 loaded in the catcher for dispatch- 3 ing or discharging purposes. Inside the catcher l5, adjacent the wall l9, I mount. an angular floor 29, which acts to more easily eject the mail bags 28 from the catcher when the latter is pivoted to the full line position of Figure 5. v

In Figure 4 the rear wall 20 and the short wall 23 are bored to receive the trunnions 30 carried by U-shaped link 3 1. Link 3 l when shifted to the full line position of Figure 5, pivots the catcher l5 from the dotted to the full line position. When the link 3i is moved downwardly to the dotted line position of Figure 5, the catcher 15 takes the normal position inside the car, as illustrated in the dotted lines of Figure 5.

Between a metal plate 32 and the wall ture I8 I rotatably mount a grooved wheel 33 around which I run a cable 33. The vertical runs 35 of the cable 34 run around grooved wheels 3l5 rotatably mounted to the floor structure 31 of the mail car. The floor structure is provided with 50 a suitable opening for accommodating the vertical runs of the cable, as well as the grooved wheels 36.

To one of the vertical runs 35 I fixedly connect an arm 38 which operates along a vertical 66 struc slot 39 in the plate 32. The U-shaped link 3| is pivotally connected at 46 with the arm 38. Thus, movement of the cable 34 will impart movement to the U-shaped link 3| which in turn causes pivotal motion of the catcher |5. The ends of the cable 34 are connected at 4| with a diamondshaped plate 42 rotatably mounted on a vertical shaft 43 carried by a casting 44 secured to the floor structure 3'! of the mail car. Casting 44 may be made secure in any suitable manner, such as by bolts 45. I interpose relatively strong coil springs 46 in the diverging runs 41 of the cable 34 (see Figure 7).

Plate 42 includes right angular ears 48 to which I pivotally connect at 49 the parallel reaches 50 of an actuating member 5|. The parallel reaches 50 constitute continuations of the converging reaches 52 which terminate in a single extension 53 provided with a free rolling sleeve 54. Sleeve 54 is located underneath a bar 55 having one end pivotally connected at 56 with the angular arm 51 of a lever 58. The lever is pivotally mounted at 59 to the floor structure 31. The opposite end of the bar 55 is pivotally connected at 60 with one end of a link 6| pivotally connected at its opposite end with a support 62 anchored to the floor structure 37 in any suitable manner such as by bolts. Link 6| parallels the angular arm 51 so that when the lever 55 is moved in the direction of the arrow 63, of Figure 9, the bar 55 will be lowered for pivoting the actuating member 5| about its axis 49.

In Figure 7 I illustrate the parallel reaches 53 as including diverging continuations or reaches 64 and 65. A cross bar 66 inter-connects the reaches 50 for strengthening purposes. According to Figures 2 and 3, the reaches 64 and normally parallel the road bed and are positioned above the rails 2 at sufiicient distances to insure proper clearance. Figure '7 illustrates the normal position of the actuating member 5| with the mail car traveling in the direction of the arrow 61, at which time the catcher 5 is positioned according to the dotted line illustration of Figure An upstanding post 68 is fixedly anchored in the road bed a short distance from the outer side of one of the rails l2. Post 66 may be provided with a rotatable sleeve 69 arranged to contact the reach 65.

As the reach 65 strikes the post 68, the actuating member 5| is pivoted in the direction of the arrow 10, which pivotal action imparts movement to the cable 34 with the vertical run 35 connected with the link 3| moving in such direction as to rapidly move the link from the dotted to the full line position of Figure 5, which simultaneously causes the catcher E5 to be pivoted to a horizontal position preparatory to picking up the mail bags l4. Pivotal movement of the catcher I5 from the dotted to the full line position of Figure 5 is rapid, and as the catcher moves into a horizontal position, the mail bags 28 are discharged from the catcher. At the same time, the catcher is located in pickup relation with the mail bags 4 attached to the catcher arm structure l3. Within the catcher I5 I secure a pickup bar 1 I, which facilitates delivery of the mail bags |4 into the catcher. As the mail bags strike the deflecting plate or partition 21, the bags are deflected inwardly of the catcher I5, while the curved wall 22 deflects the bags inwardly in the direction of the floor of the mail car. After the bags l4 have been picked up, the reach 64 of the actuating member 5| engages the post 12, anchored in the road bed slightly beyond the other rail 52. Post 72 may be provided with a rotatable sleeve 13 corresponding to the sleeve 69. Through engagement of the reach 64 with the post 12, the cable 34 is again actuated for moving the catcher l5 from the full to the dotted line position of Figure 5. Catcher i5 is provided with stops '54 which are arranged to engage the inner face of the wall structure of the mail car to pre- Vent outward pivotal movement beyond the full line position of Figure 5. According to the ar rangements of the posts 68 and 12 of Figure 7, it is obvious that the system will operate in the same manner with the train moving in the opposite direction.

While the posts 68 and 12 are permanently anchored in the road bed, I provide means for rendering the actuating member 5| inoperative. Figure 9 illustrates the normal position of the lever 58, at which time the bar 55 is in its elevated position. By moving the lever 58 in the direction of the arrow 63, the bar 55 will be lowered for pressing the shaft 53 downwardly and pivoting the actuating member 55 about its axis 49. Such pivotal action elevates the reaches 64 and 65 sufilciently far to bring them out of the path of the posts 58 and 72, thus permitting the train to pass beyond the posts without setting the discharging and pickup mechanism in operation. While I have illustrated two catchers I5 in connection with Figures 2 and 3, it is obvious that the invention will operate in the same manner with the car provided with one catcher only. Springs 46 operate to dampen the impact incident to impinging relation between the reaches 64 and 65 and the respective posts.

In the event that the mail car It is provided with one catcher IE only, the door I6 associated with the car wall 15 may be closed, as at 76. Across the upper part of each door, I hinge a narrow wall part 11. Thus, the mail boxes may be stacked high in the receptacle with no danger of their catching on the fixed wall.

What is claimed is:

In combination with a mail car, a mail pouch receptacle pivotally mounted on one wall of the mail car, said receptacle including a mail pouch collector and discharger, said receptacle and the collector normally lying inside the mail car adjacent said one wall and the latter being provided with a door to permit the receptacle and the collector to be pivoted to a position exteriorly of the mail car, an actuating member pivotally connected with the mail car underneath the same, an operating connection between the actuating member and the receptacle and collector, means spaced along the road bed and cooperating with said actuating member for moving the receptacle into discharging position and bringing the collector into a pickup position with respect to mail pouches mounted on a catcher arm along the highway, means for shifting the actuating member into an inoperative position with respect to said means, and shock absorbing means interposed in said operating connection, said collector including means for deflecting mail bags downwardly inside the mail car.

JOHN VANO. 

